This invention relates to spacers for aerial cables for supporting one or more electrical conductor cables above the ground.
Overhead conductor cables are commonly suspended from a messenger cable usually made of steel. The messenger cable is supported on poles or towers with the conductor cable spacers arranged at spaced intervals along the messenger cable to suspend one or more conductor cables. Since many power circuits require three phase electrical power, it is often convenient to suspend conductor cables in groups of three employing a spacer which supports all three conductor cables and simultaneously maintains the conductors in spaced relation.
If the advantages of suspending conductors in this manner are to be fully availed, it is essential that the spacer be easily attached to the messenger cable and to the conductor cables.
To provide ease of attaching the spacer to the messenger and conductor cables and to reduce the number of parts required, the means for retaining the cables in their respective seats of the body member of the spacer should accommodate messenger and conductor cables of varying cross sectional diameters without providing bushings, sleeves, grommets or the like of different sizes to surround the cables at their seats.
The construction of the spacer should be such that all of its parts have both high mechanical strength and high electrical strength and are durable in use.
In addition, all parts of the spacer should be economical to manufacture and to assemble to the final form of the spacer.
The construction and method of operation of the spacer should cause the conductor cables to be held firmly in their seats with substantially the same pressure on each cable so that after installation none of them will move longitudinally in their seats.
In addition, the construction of the spacer should be such that the means for retaining the conductor cables in their seats cannot be accidentally disengaged.
On Apr. 26, 1977 U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,277 was granted to Hendrix Wire & Cable Corporation, the owner of this application. In use of the spacer for aerial cables disclosed in that patent, it was found that the three cables were not held in their seats by substantially the same pressures so that occasionally one or more of the cables moved longitudinally in their seats.
It was also found that occasionally a branch of a tree or other object accidentally hit one of the outwardly projecting members 90B of the spacer, disengaging the ratchet teeth 101 from the ratchet teeth 55A, 60A or 65A, thus releasing the cable retaining means 90.
To the best of my knowledge, the spacer of U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,277 is the closest prior art to the spacer of the present invention.
The spacer for aerial cables of the present invention is a great improvement upon the spacer disclosed in said patent and it solves the above described objectives.